Ebay, EachNet team up for more market share
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-01-20 21:23

EBay Inc., the worldwide online marketplace announced Thursday that it is planing to invest up to 100 million US dollars in eBay EachNet this year, the number one e-commerce site in China.

The eBay Inc. headquarters in San Jose, Calif., are seen Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2005. [AP]

Meg Whitman, president and CEO of eBay, said that full support would be given to the China team. The capital injection further proves the strong commitment of eBay Eachnet to helping its community of users and growing the business in China.

The market of China's online trading has much potentials and has been growing rapidly. According to a report of China Online Auction Research in 2003 issued by iResearch, a Shanghai based China research company, relevant data shows that in 2002, the volume of the online trading was only 940 million yuan; in 2003, the volume grew to 1.92 billion yuan (about 231 million US dollars) and in 2004, the volume of China's online auction has been expected to top the 3.37 billion yuan (about 406 million US dollars) mark.

Huge market space has allured not only Ebay and Eachnet, but also MSN under Microsoft, Yahoo, and Sina, who also have preliminary plan of getting a market share from China's online marketplace.

EBay Eachnet, as the leading online marketplace in China, has got to 10 million users last week. In 2004 alone, 5.7 million new users registered. New listings reached nearly 6.6 millions on eBay EachNet.

Ebay invested 180 million US dollars to acquire a 33 percent interest in Eachnet on a fully diluted basis in July 2004. Through this alliance, Eachnet has extended its e-commerce position in China, and eBay has gained a foothold in one of the world's largest growing Internet market.

Meg Whitman said "China is an important part of our international portfolio. China Internet market is developing more rapidly than anticipated, and eBay Eachnet's growth has been remarkable. In the past year, the site more than doubles its user base, beefing up its position as China's top e-commerce site. As a result, we see even greater opportunity in China today than we did six months ago."

James Zheng, Chief Operation Officer of eBay EachNet said that with the investment in 2005, eBay EachNet is confident to provide a more safe and convenient transaction site to Chinese users.

Founded in 1995, eBay has created a platform for the sale of goods and services by a passionate community of individuals and businesses.

EachNet was founded in Shanghai in August 1999 by two United States-educated entrepreneurs, Bao Shao and Haiyin Tan. Inspired by the potential of the online platform to make commerce more efficient, they created EachNet to bring person-to-person trading to China.

Today, Eachnet has 10 million registered users who trade a wide range of items from clothing and antique calligraphy to computers and real estate.

In earlier period, Meg Whitman said "together with EachNet, eBay will be well positioned to help develop this emerging market and benefit from its growth long term."

Figures provided by the China Internet Network Information Center show that the country's Internet population reached 94 million at the end of last year, inferring a growth of 18.2 percent in 2004.

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